


Queen Donna

by Julibellule



Series: You're the Doctor now [1]
Category: Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: Action/Adventure, Alternate Canon, BAMF Rose Tyler, Body Horror, Character Death, Cybermen - Freeform, Dead People, Episode: s04e14 The Next Doctor, Horror, London, Mild Blood, Post-Episode AU: s04e13 Journey's End, Prime universe, Regeneration, Rewrite, Sad Ending, Self-Sacrifice, Suffering, Swearing, Victorian era, Whump, restrained
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-02
Updated: 2020-06-07
Packaged: 2021-03-03 23:34:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 5
Words: 4,376
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24513949
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Julibellule/pseuds/Julibellule
Summary: Rose does everything she can to save Donna from the Cybermen
Series: You're the Doctor now [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1771477
Comments: 2
Kudos: 4





	1. You're the Doctor now

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rose Tyler (K)  
>  **Rose and Donna arrive in Victorian London on Christmas Eve**

Donna walked slowly toward Rose as she trotted around the console to send her flying through the Time vortex. She examined her every move, still wary of the woman who just saved her life. She didn't feel like going back home straight away. She wanted to give Rose a chance and see where all this madness could lead them. There was also a part of Donna that was screaming for her to stay beside Rose and never let her go.

A part that knew how vulnerable the woman was even if she didn't let it show. A part of her that understood how cruel this universe could be and how important it was to always have a hand to hold. No, she wouldn't leave her. For the Doctor's sake, she will protect the woman he loved, at all cost. "Great then, where to next, Donna Noble? Forward or backward in time." Rose asked with a flourish.

Was she trying to impress her? God, she was as much of a blow-hard as he was. "Backward. Lets go backward." Donna said without hesitation. "I wanna try on those silly puffy dresses."

Rose smiled, remembering her second trip with her Doctor. "Good, Victorian era it is. Let's choose a date at random, shall we! Surprise us!" She caressed the Tardis fondly. She knew she would bring them where they were meant to go. The doors of the Tardis opened on a little alley filled with snow. It was beautiful and both Rose and Donna smiled as they got out and heard the crunching sound their boots made in the white frozen sheet covering the street. "Oh, London." Rose observed. "Near Christmas, what a nice time of the year to visit the Victorian Era." The end of the alley gave onto a small market bursting with people. It seemed almost magical. Everyone was so happy, a choir was singing and kids were running around. "Well, Christmas Eve, then. Oi, you!" Rose stopped a passing boy, "What year is this?"

"You thick or something?" The boy answered.

"Just answer the question." Donna reacted.

"Year of our Lord 1851, mam." He answered before scampering off.

"What happened in 1851?" Donna asked Rose.

Rose shrugged. "Don't have a clue. I should've listened a bit more during my history class. I never thought that, one day, I'd steal a Time machine." Donna snorted and then they both jumped when she heard a woman scream, calling for the Doctor.

When Donna turned to look at Rose she could see how distressed she was, but didn't bother to sympathize as she asked, "Why the hell are you standing there for? You're the Doctor now."

Rose shook her head frantically. "But 'm not, though," she resigned herself, "think about it why would she be calling for me? She surely is calling for another Doctor and I am not crossing path with a pass version of himself."

"Rose," Donna laid a hand on her shoulder, "they might need help."

"'M not risking the time lines, Donna."

"DOCTOR!!" the desperation in the woman's voice was evident.


	2. Doctor coming through

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rose Tyler (T)  
>  **Rose and Donna meet Jackson Lake and his companion**  
>  _Trigger Warnings: Swearing (Rose)_

"I don't care. We are going." Donna grabbed Rose's hand and ran towards the alley where the screams came from. They were running toward a woman in a Victorian dress.

She looked at them and Rose's blood froze in her veins when she yelled, "Where the hell have you been?" Was she really talking to her. No, there was no way she knew.. except maybe if they crossed one of her future timelines. Will she really be traveling with a different companion, and asked to be called Doctor in her future? That doesn't seem like something she would do.

But then she noticed that the woman wasn't watching her, but someone behind her who roughly shoved her arm as he passed beside her. "Right then, let me pass, Doctor coming through." The man said. _Rude_ , Rose thought. She almost didn't have time to see what this Doctor looked like before the wooden doors in front of them burst opened.

"Oh shit!" Rose said as she saw the half beast, half Cybermen that was watching them.

"Now, no need to lose your courteous manners, Miss, I'm the Doctor and I'll take good care of this beast for you." Rose reached for her gun, a habit when it came to dealing with Cybermen, but remember she wasn't carrying one anymore. Her eyes widened when she saw the Doctor throw a rope at the Cyber-beast who was now climbing up the brick wall.

What did he wish to accomplish with a rope. "Shit," Rose repeated when the Doctor took off, flying behind it.

"He is as bonkers as the other one," Donna confirmed.

"And as full of himself," Rose agreed.

"You idiot," the Doctor's companion yelled at him as she grabbed and axe and took off.

Rose snorted. "I like her! Lets go and save the idiot, then!" And they ran alongside the woman.

*

"Well, I'm glad you think it's so funny." The Doctor's companion was not happy. She just saved the Doctor from falling down the third floor of an abandoned old shoe factory. "You're mad. You could've got killed." Rose was a bit out of breath but still found enough to snort when she saw things just didn't change. She wonder which regeneration this Doctor was at.

Probably before the Time War. Her Doctor had told her once how fresh the Time War was for him when he met her in Hendrick's basement. "And who are you, Miss?" Rose hesitated before answering him. How did those things work? She looked at Donna which jumped on the opportunity.

"Donna Noble, sir, and this is Rose Tyler." Rose frowned at her, part of her waiting for Reepers to appear.

"Ha! Donna and Rose meet Rosita." The Doctor exclaimed. "Always telling me off."

"Please to meet you Rosita." Rose smiled at her.

"Likewise." She grabbed her offered hand. "Now I'll have to go and dismantle the traps. All that for nothing. And we've only got an hour till the funeral, don't forget. Then back to the Tardis, right?" Rosita left with a huff and without hesitation, Rose started following her. She didn't want to stay with the Doctor. For many reason. The fact that she just stole his Tardis was one of them but most of all, she blamed it on keeping the timelines intact and avoid the Reapers from crossing to this plane of existence.

She also knew she would have a lot more answers from the companion than from the Doctor himself. "Rosita, wait up!" She caught on to her and trotted beside her to try and keep up. "What was that? What funeral?"

"What do you mean?" Rosita held her skirt tighter against her to walk a bit faster and get rid of Rose. "It's all over the papers. Reverend Aubrey Fairchild's."

"Right! Fairchild. Of course." She cleared her throat. Cybermen. They were dealing with Cybermen and Rose knew how to deal with them right. There was no mercy to be had. Find their base of operation and delete them. Her Torchwood training and years of cleansing Pete's World's Earth of them was kicking in. She wondered what the Doctor was planning. "And the Doctor is going to the funeral?" She asked.

"'M sorry, who are you?" Rosita stopped walking and turned to face Rose.

"'M Rose, Rose Tyler." She answered genuinely and Rosita just shook her head with an exasperated roll of eyes. This was not the answer she wanted.

"Why are you following me, miss Tyler?" She sighed then gestured wildly at anywhere else but here as she said. "Go on, then, go back home and celebrate Christmas with your friends and family. You don't have nothing to do with all this."

"But those.. monsters." Rose flinched, which Rosita probably thought it was from shock but was more because she almost said Cybermen instead of monsters. That would've made Rosita even more suspicious. "What is your plan to stop them? Are there more?"

Rosita started walking again. "Yes. They almost killed me once but the Doctor came to my rescue." Rose scratched her nose to hide her scoff. Of course, he did. "We do have a plan and I am sorry to say that it doesn't concern you."

Rose growled internally. "Yeah well, we could still help. Donna and me, we could be of good use." Rosita's eyes scanned Rose from head to toe, never slowing down her pace. And now that she was thinking of it, Rose regretted offering her help. She really didn't want to go through the whole ordeal of getting rid of the Cybermen following this Doctor like another companion.

Yeah, she was quite done being the Doctor's companion. Rose didn't mind using a gun against them and she knew the Doctor would. She needed to find a way out, go back to the Tardis to find the right kind of weapon and then she could start her search for the Cybermen's base of operation at the funeral. If the Doctor was going to be there, it probably meant something.

"Here we are. This is where I stay for the moment with the Doctor." Rosita stopped in front of two large door that looked more like a barn than an actual house. "You can come with me, if you really want to help. The Tardis is out back. I have to get it ready before the Doctor arrives." Rose frowned. What did she mean? Get it ready for what? Rosita was looking at her expectantly, waiting for her answer before she opened the doors.


	3. It's a balloon

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rose Tyler (K)  
>  **Rose and Donna are less and less sure that they are in the presence of the real Doctor**

“Let me see this Tardis, then.” Rose said with a confident smile.

Rosita smiled back and open one of the huge stable’s door. “The Tardis is right there in the yard. Let me get some luggage ready.” They both went inside and Rose saw that the place where horse should’ve been was transformed in living quarters instead.

“Is this where you live?”

Rosita was already off in the back shuffling through a case of clothing. “With the Doctor, yes.” She answered without lifting her head from the trunk. “I followed him here, one night, after he saved my life from this man made of metal.” She stopped rearranging the clothes for a moment, lost in the memory of that night.

“But why don’t you live in the Tardis? Is something wrong with her?” Rose felt a bit embarrassed to cut Rosita’s reveries short to bring her back at the subject at hand.

“Why would we? The Tardis is no place to live.” Rosita’s laugh seemed nervous. “Plus, it’s not even ready yet. Jed is still working on filling her up, and the Doctor doesn’t want to ascend until all this mess with the Cybermen gets sorted out and London is safe.”

“Ascend?” Rose repeated with a frown, not loud enough for Rosita to catch it. That was a strange way to call the Tardis’ dematerialisation, but from what she understood, this was Rosita’s first adventure. She wasn’t even a full time companion yet. She had all the guts and the spunk to be a perfect one, though. This thought made Rose smile as she peruse through the stalls noticing the piles of filled luggage.

Her fingers lingered over a seal on one of them, bearing a tree emblem with the initials J and L on each side. She cleared her throat. “May I see it? The Doctor’s Tardis?”

Rosita was closing the case and locking it with a key that she slid in-between her breasts. “Yes of course. Can you help me with these?” Rose nodded and grabbed two suitcases. She followed in the yard, looking around for a blue box but seeing nothing but a man, sitting on a huge, round piece of fabric, sewing together a tear in the cloth. “Isn’t it ready yet?” Rosita asked, sounding very annoyed.

“No, ma'am. There was a ripped panel, I am fixing it now.”

Rosita walked to a wicker basket for a hot air balloon and deposit the suitcase beside it, gesturing Rose to do the same. “It’s not all done yet but there she is, the Doctor’s Tardis.” Rose frowned, her eyes shifting from the deflated balloon and the basket. She laid down the cases she was holding, then laid over the edge of the nacelle to peek her head in. It was not bigger on the inside.

“It’s a balloon..?” Rose really didn’t understand what was going on here.

“Tardis.” She jumped and turned around at the sound of the Doctor’s voice coming towards them. “T A R D I S. It stands for Tethered Aerial Release Developed In Style.”

“It's a balloon!” Rose repeated. She was almost frustrated to hear him say this. As if it was blasphemous to use the Tardis’ name on a simple hot air balloon. Donna appeared behind the Doctor and shook her head at Rose, clearly telling her to let it slide. Rose cleared her throat again and mumbled. “Good.. great.. Tardis. I.. like it.” She smiled awkwardly at the Doctor, then nodded, then walked right past him to join Donna back in the stables as Rosita and the Doctor talked about their upcoming plans.

"I don't think he is the Doctor, Rose." They were standing right beside the luggage Rose inspected earlier.

"Well, _this_ is definitely not the Tardis."

"He has this real screwdriver that he carries around but he still calls it sonic." Donna said.

"So he is a fraud? Why would he pretend to be the Doctor? Why would he face Cybermen all by himself like that?" Rose couldn't believe it. This was madness.

"I don't know I think he is delusional, Rose. He really believes he is the real thing. After we faced a Cybermen in that dude's house, he started rambling about how the Cybermen stole something from him, but he couldn't remember what." Rose leaned down to pick something shiny from the ground. It was a single golden cufflink with the same initials Rose saw on the seal from the luggage; J and L. She frowned at it. "His marbles, probably." Donna continued.

Rose cleared her throat, taking her decision. "So the man believes he is the Doctor and he has a woman following and trusting him. He wants to stop the Cybermen from attacking London, putting his life and Rosita's in danger." Rose neatly laid the engraved cufflink on the top of the pile of luggage and sighed. "I think we should hurry and fix the issue before he gets himself too caught up in destroying Cybermen with a wooden screwdriver."

Donna nodded and they both walked toward the large barn's doors. Ready to face a fleet of Cybermen but sure that they possessed more skill and weaponry to do so than the man currently helping Jed hitch up the huge tarp over the wannabe Tardis. Rose and Donna ran toward the Tardis as soon as they got out of the stables.


	4. This won't end well

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rose Tyler (T)  
>  **Rose and Donna are surprised by Cybermen while waiting for the Doctor at a funeral**  
>  _Trigger Warnings: Dead Bodies, Mention of Blood_

Rose frowned, looking around, between the trees and the tombstones and the cortège of men all dressed in black. She held the large magnetic gun against her chest. The gun she got in her Tardis. “I thought he would be here by now.” She said to the woman crouching beside her.

“He is probably on his way, Rose. This Doctor said he wanted to attend the funeral.” Donna tried to comfort her. Rose adjusted her stance so her legs would not get numb, just in case they had to run.

“You are probably right. ’S just.. Cybermen…” Rose shivered. She decided to work this threat with Donna and leave this Doctor to his own devices, but she still hoped she made the right decision. She didn’t want anything bad happening to him. Well, it surely wasn’t the first time he had to deal with them. He would know how to handle himself if he ever got face to face with Cybermen.

Her thoughts were interrupted by a woman wearing a flashy red dress and holding an equally red umbrella, walking purposefully towards the circle of men standing reverently over the lowering coffin. The vision seemed so unreal that Rose wondered if she was hallucinating. It was quite entrancing to look at the blood red queen standing among the grey and white décor of the cemetery.

“I somehow don’t believe she is here to give her condolences.” Donna admitted. Every men in the graveyard were tense and it didn’t take long before an argument erupted. Rose tried to understand what was said but couldn’t hear a thing.

“Yeah, this won’t end well.” Rose stood and hid behind the nearest tree, readying her gun. Donna followed. It was feet stomping in unison over the bristle snow that made the taste of adrenaline rush in Rose’s mouth. This was probably the worst sound Rose have ever heard. It haunted her nightmares and even though so much time had pass since the cleansing they had to do in Pete’s World, the Pavlovian reaction that came with it hadn’t dissipated.

As she saw men running out of the cemetery, she ran against them to fight off the attack. Her peripheral vision blurred as her body reacted to the intensity of the moment, enhancing her tunnel vision and helping her aim and shoot down as many Cybermen as she could. They were everywhere, but even if her blood froze in horror at the screams of pain and the electrifying sound of humans being deleted, her automatic reflexes were flawless.

Years of training and fighting and an impeccable instinct of survival made her an incredible killing machine when it came to actually killing machines. Bodies were littering the tombstones, the vision pulling Rose further in her trance. Rose then came face to face with the cold and murderous silhouette of the woman dressed in a blood red dress. It was as circumstantial as the storm provoked by the flapping wings of a butterflies when the red queen approached her menacingly, a hand with a knife raised high above Rose and Rose tripped on a tombstone, a trigger was pulled and an electrifying stream of energy blasted out of her gun, hitting the woman directly in the heart.

It all went down so fast but Rose saw the lady staggering back in slow motion before she fell backward with a scream, landing hard on the coffin below ground level. Rose ran to the hole, making the mistake of dropping her gun, her heart filled with guilt and horror as she realized fully what had just happened. The sight of a mud covered and tattered red dress was the last thing she saw before a metallic hand closed over her shoulder and darkness surrounded her.


	5. Queen Donna

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rose Tyler (T)  
>  **Rose does everything she can to save Donna from the Cybermen**  
>  _Trigger Warnings: Swearing (Rose), Suffering (Donna), Character's Death (Donna &Rose), Restrained (Donna), Body Horror (Donna), Sad Ending, Regeneration (Rose)_

It was night when Rose woke up with a breathtaking start to the sound of screaming. The earth was shaking menacingly under her body in jerky jolts, as if a very huge and very heavy beast was approaching. Rose sat straight up when she remembered where she was and what had happened. "Shit!" She cursed as she got up. The Cybermen must've left her for dead in this frozen cemetery.

How long did it take for her to come back to life this time around? So many hours seemed to have pass since she accidentally pulled the trigger on the red woman. Rose was actually facing her, the woman in red. Her body was awkwardly twisted at the bottom of her improvised grave and the dress seemed to emanate its own red glow through the thin sheen of snow that had fallen over it.

Another quake of the earth made Rose falter. She turned around to see the reason for the earthquakes. "Shit!" She cursed again. Then started running towards a Cybermen-like giant towering over the town. She looked around in panic as she ran. Donna was nowhere to be seen and Rose felt like crying. She wouldn't be able to survive this if Donna didn't make it.

She would never forgive herself. She had to believe Donna made it out alive. It didn't take long that she was out of the graveyard and speeding through the streets of the town, making her way against the crowd of screaming people. She needed to get to the Tardis, then she would be able to stop this monster and find Donna's bio-signature. She swerved right, remembering where she parked the Tardis and let out a breath of relief when she saw the blue box intact and waiting for her.

A house nearby had been crushed by the inconsiderate foot of the titan. "Thank God, you're still here." Rose said as she laid a hand on the wooden doors and felt the welcoming hum as she ran to the console, turning the computer screen toward her. Rose decided she would use the big guns this time… literally. With a few turns of dials and pulls of switches, she was expertly lifting the Tardis off the ground.

She knew she could do it. The doors opened and she saw the head of the metal giant through them. She was maneuvering the Tardis to fly around the head until she came to a stop in front of the emotionless face of it. That's when her heart stopped. Rose had already aimed the deadly weapon toward the opening serving as mouth before she noticed Donna's body tied to a metal throne in the middle of it.

Her head was held into a contraption clearly made from Cybermen's technology. Did they turn her? Why wasn't she in the normal metal body? Rose let down her aim, there was no way she could fire and disable the giant Cybermen with Donna right in the middle of it. "Donna!!!" Rose screamed holding on to the hand-ramp so she wouldn't fall through the open doors.

The wind was blowing her hair around ferociously and stealing her voice before it got to the woman. This wasn't working. She closed the door again and went back to the console. When she got out after landing the Tardis, she was inside the mouth, right beside Donna. Rose fired her gun a few times and disabled all the Cybermen around before she got to the woman sitting on the metal throne.

"Donna!" Rose said as she grabbed her face in hers. "Donna, look at me!" Donna's eyes were fully black, from the brown of her irises to the white of her sclera. "Donna!" Rose pleaded and Donna seemed to hear her since her head looked down toward her.

"I am CyberKing. My mind inside the Cybermen. The world will bow down to me." Bow down to her? Cybermen didn't want to be worshiped, Cybermen only wanted to rid the universe of emotion, to turn the flesh into metal.

"What have they done to you?" Rose asked with tears in her voice.

"I am CyberKing. My mind inside the Cybermen."

What did she mean _her mind inside Cybermen_? "Are you controlling this thing? Donna you have to stop, you have to…" Rose shook her. "Snap out of it!" Rose didn't know what to do.

And that's when a black tear fell down Donna's cheek, leaving an oily trail in its path. "I am… CyberKing. My... mind inside.. th-the Cyberm-men." Donna repeated with so much emotions, Rose's heart felt like crying too.

"Donna you have to fight it." She grabbed the woman's face and wiped the oil off her skin. "You have to come back." A long sob came out of Donna, a horrifying wail, a frustrated plea, a desperate cry, and a jolt made Rose fall backwards and she understood the giant Cybermen was turning back. Donna was controlling it and although she was crying out in pain, the determination was evident.

Donna was going to end this madness. Rose got back up holding her gun ready when other Cybermen started to swarm back toward them, trying to stop Donna's attempts to save London. "Rose leave!!" She heard Donna's metallic voice scream.

"I am not leaving you!" Rose answered as she shot two other of them. She turned to the Tardis and saw that Donna was bringing them back to the Thames.

"Leave!" Donna said again. Tears were flowing on her face and her cheeks were black all over. Rose ran to Donna and tried to open the metal bindings on her wrists and chest. It was to no avail. She should've taken the time to build herself a new sonic screwdriver.

"I am not leaving you here." Rose affirmed through gritted teeth and Donna's face scrunched up, forcing another wave of powerful energy against the machine. An electric current started to fizzle around the contraption on Donna's head and Rose took a step back as Donna screamed again, loud, and through the determination, Rose could clearly see the fear pouring out of Donna.

The electricity flashed all around Rose, into the floors and the walls, a through the Cybermen and in a blinding light, they all exploded simultaneously. Donna too. Rose was stunned. Too many emotions flowing through her to understand what had just happen, to acknowledge that Donna had just sacrificed her life to eradicate the last Cybermen in existence.

The world started to lurch drastically and Rose still couldn't register a thing until water came rushing through the opening of the giant Cybermen's mouth, crushing her against the far wall.

*

The Tardis was floating right beside her when she came back. The golden hues of her regeneration still illuminating the depths surrounding her. She was trapped in a metal chamber, at the bottom of the Thames. She swam towards the blue wooden doors and pushed on them before she didn't have any air left in her lungs. The doors closed by themselves, immediately stopping more water from rushing in as Rose find her breathing back.

She laid on the grating floor for a long time. Her mind on full stop. Then rolled in a tight ball and cried, her hands over her head wouldn't stop the hum of the Tardis trying to comfort her. She cried for what seemed like hours… days… She eventually fell asleep, rocked by at the soft song of the Tardis, the only thing in the world she had left.

**Author's Note:**

> The End (;
> 
> * * *
> 
> This story is from my bigger Interractive Journey's End project where you can choose your own adventure. You can start your journey and choose the Doctor and Rose's fate by clicking [RIGHT HERE](https://archiveofourown.org/works/18778384/chapters/44550334)
> 
> Thanks for encouraging me with comments and kudos. You are awesome!


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